The Oxfordshire school told BBC that it would be "inappropriate" to comment on the investigation into the teacher's conduct. "It was surreal, Kafkaesque", Sutcliffe said, according to the Daily Mail. He was called into the principal's office November 6 and told there had been a "transgender complaint" lodged against him.

Sutcliffe told reporters he was "distraught" by what he referred to as "political correctness gone mad", explaining that he had no official instructions about how to address the student.

He was corrected by the student and he immediately apologized, but he was reportedly suspended six weeks later after the pupil's mother had filed a complaint.

However, he has admitted that, as a Christian, he avoided using male pronouns such as "he" and "him".

However, he added he feels it is a breach of his human rights to force him to use "he" or "him" when referring to a pupil born a female.

The transgender student's parents also claimed Sutcliffe had unfairly given the pupil a disproportionate number of detentions for poor behavior, but this claim was later dismissed.

"I said it was only one incident for which I had apologized, but he insisted the investigation would go ahead", he continued.

The school has conducted an investigation into the complaints made against Sutcliffe, and he faces a disciplinary hearing this week. I didn't know what was happening.

The family of the transgender student is saying that Sutcliffe was "picking" on their child and they would not have complained about "misgendering" had they not thought otherwise because they are supporters of "free speech", reports the Mail.

"While the suggestion that gender is fluid conflicts sharply with my Christian beliefs, I recognize my responsibility as a teacher and Christian to treat each of my pupils with respect". "I had always tried to respect the pupil and keep a professional attitude as well as my integrity, but it seemed to me that the school was trying to force me to adhere to its liberal, Leftist agenda".

Sutcliffe thinks referring to someone by their birth gender isn't wrong or unreasonable, according to the Daily Mail.

However, he had been summoned for questioning twice, and he was sent a letter telling him to attend a formal disciplinary hearing this Wednesday, attended by the head and three governors. I have never been trained to deal with this sort of thing.

Sutcliffe said was shocked by the school's actions, and felt out of depth and "intimidated" by the probe and upcoming hearing.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre which is supporting Mr Sutcliffe, added: 'This is one of a large number of cases we are encountering where teachers are finding themselves silenced or punished if they refuse to fall in line with the current transgender fad'.

Sutcliffe has previously come under fire for his biblical view of gender and sexuality; several years ago, a voluntary Bible club he started during lunchtime was shut down after he answered a student's question on marriage by saying the Bible described it as being between a man and a woman.